Solution-centered. Community-rooted. Faith-driven.

Our mission

We feed families who are food-deprived and assist with housing, transportation, youth development, waste reduction, and mental-health resources across Luzerne, Carbon, and Monroe counties in Northeast Pennsylvania. Our approach is a “helps” mindset, committed to equity, inclusion, belonging, and diversity.

Feed a person a fish. Teach them to fish. Then train them to train others — until the helped become the helpers.

That cycle is the heart of everything we do. Groceries meet today’s need; the Garden of Eating teaches families to grow their own food; youth leadership programs raise up the next generation of helpers. Many of the young people we mentored years ago are adults now, serving their own communities.

Our story

Our founders have been on the front line of the fight against hunger since 1986, when Sherry Upton — then a culinary student in New York — began sharing food prepared in class with homeless neighbors around the Port Authority Bus Terminal. In 1992, Everett and Sherry founded the “We Can Help” soup kitchen together in Newark, New Jersey.

Their calling grew out of their own church life. Everett and Sherry accepted Christ at Randall Chapel UFW Baptist Church, where Everett served as a trustee and deacon and Sherry as a deaconess and minister. They later became youth pastors at Liberty Baptist Church, building a thriving youth ministry with a Kids Cafe, after-school programs, summer camps, and leadership opportunities for young people.

In 2004 they founded Common Ground Ministries in Elizabeth, New Jersey — a food pantry, youth outreach, and senior assistance ministry whose youth programs recorded zero pregnancies, zero dropouts, and zero incarcerations, and which opened ShopRite’s first Kids’ Café. In 2007 the ministry moved to Northeast Pennsylvania and grew into a food-distribution outlet serving hundreds of households every month. Before relocating, the Uptons were ordained as youth pastors of Common Ground Ministries by Pastor Calvin Bethea and Pastor Dr. Melrose Bethea of God’s Life Christian Church.

After being forced to relocate four times over two decades, in 2023 Common Ground Ministries purchased a former church in Beaver Meadows, Carbon County — a permanent home that lets us respond to food emergencies around the clock, host free monthly community events, and grow the Garden of Eating on our own land. What began as free vegetable starter plants is now a producing community garden.

Next is Let’s Grow, a Christian day care and after-school program now in development, focused on nurturing and developing children.

Our leadership

Everett and Sherry Upton have built a life, a family, and a ministry together for more than 37 years, grounded in their faith in Jesus Christ and a shared commitment to helping others. Together they also advocate for families affected by rare bleeding disorders.

Pastor Everett Upton — Co-founder & Executive Director

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Cleveland Heights, Everett moved to New York City after high school to work in publishing. He became a top salesperson, managed sales teams, and went on to found United Booksellers, Inc., which sold millions of multicultural books to families, schools, and state agencies. He studied at Hawthorne Bible School and earned certifications from the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University.

Everett has served more than 25 years in ministry and has operated food pantries for more than 20 years. As Peer Leadership Coordinator at Keystone Job Corps in Drums, Pennsylvania, he has helped develop hundreds of young leaders. He authored the proposed “Upton Bill,” asking that 10% of food-relief funding go to the small local pantries that hand food directly to neighbors, and he carries that case to Washington.

Sherry Upton — Co-founder

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Sherry graduated from the New York Culinary Institute and cooked at venues including Sands Casino and Red Lobster while raising the family. She then spent nearly two decades in administration with the Elizabeth Board of Education. She graduated from Hawthorne Bible School and has served as a deaconess and minister. Sherry has co-led every chapter of Common Ground’s work — pantry operations, youth programs, and community meals — since the beginning.

Their calling is simple: to serve God by serving people, answering the call wherever there is a need.

Transparency & supporters

Common Ground Ministries is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in good standing in Pennsylvania, funded by grants and donations and powered by volunteers. We are grateful to supporters including Pennsylvania state grants, the Luzerne County ARPA program, the PA Department of Environmental Protection, Walmart, Bank of America, PNC, Woodforest, Peoples Security Bank, Wayne Bank, Community Bank, Sanofi, the Hazleton Lions Club, West Hazleton Trinity Lutheran Church, Mission BBQ, WestRock, and many local grocers, farms, churches, and neighbors.

Our work has been covered by WVIA, the Times News, WNEP, and the Hazleton Standard-Speaker.